Big cats plan for parks?

Forests and heathland around Crowthorne and Bracknell could feature in a drive to introduce new species into the country.

Wildmoor Heath, part of the Thames Basin Heath Special Protection Area; Crowthorne Forest, a site of special scientific interest, and Swinley Forest, could be part of a government plan to create vast, linked country parks.

In years to come the parks could be used for the introduction of species like beavers and lynx which have not been seen in Britain for many years.

At the Labour Party Annual Conference this month environment secretary Hilary Benn said whole tracts of countryside should be ‘rewilded’ so that they could provide habitats for herbivores like elk and wild boar and, in the long term, predators like lynx.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has given environmental organisation Natural England the responsibility for looking into the idea.

A spokesman said: “Over the next six months Hilary Benn wants to review the state of national parks and areas of special interest to see if they are up to the challenge for the future, and whether it’s feasible to link areas up to create corridors of countryside for wildlife to roam.”

Areas around Bracknell Forest could be looked at but he added: “The idea of lynx and beavers roaming around any time soon may be a bit of a flight of fancy!”